Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to water recycling systems and, more particularly, to water recycling systems for use with water that is produced and used in well fracturing or stimulation.
Background Information
Water used and produced in oil and gas well fracturing, or stimulation, operations requires treatment before re-use and disposal. The water is treated to remove chemicals that were added to the water before use and/or chemicals and sediment present in the water after use as a by-product of the well stimulation. The water, commonly referred to as used flowback fracturing (“frac”) water and produced water, may have been processed to ensure that it is capable of being used initially for stimulating oil and gas wells and is again processed for that purpose. In addition, the water is processed for disposal, e.g., to prevent contamination of ground water resources.
The water treatment facilities must be capable of treating the water for wide ranges of conditions including total dissolved solids, turbidity, different types and concentration of contaminants, off-gassing, and so forth. Thus, the water treatment facilities are generally complex and costly to build and operate.
Typically, large quantities of the used flowback frac water and produced water are pumped into trucks and transported from the well site to the water treatment and/or disposal facilities and, for re-use, transported back to the well site. Accordingly, traffic to and from the exploration areas is increased. When water re-use is not feasible because of, for example, the economics of transporting the water back to the well site after treatment, the demands on local water resources can be enormous and may adversely affect the availability of ground waters for other purposes.
What is needed is a portable water recycling system and process that can be established and run at or near a well site.